The level of effort required for behaviour as a moderator of the attitude-behaviour relation

It was hypothesized that the manner in which attitudes influence behaviour is moderated by the level of effort required to perform a behaviour. The effort needed was manipulated in a field experiment by varying the difficulty of getting access to the attitude object. When the behaviour required subs...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of social psychology 1990-01, Vol.20 (1), p.45-59
Main Authors: Bagozzi, Richard P., Yi, Youjae, Baumgartner, Johann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Behavior
Behavior. Attitude
Biological and medical sciences
College Students
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Intentionality
Measurement
Methodology (Philosophical)
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Social behaviour
Social psychology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It was hypothesized that the manner in which attitudes influence behaviour is moderated by the level of effort required to perform a behaviour. The effort needed was manipulated in a field experiment by varying the difficulty of getting access to the attitude object. When the behaviour required substantial effort, the mediating role of intentions was strong, and attitudes had only indirect effects on behaviour, consistent with the theory of reasoned action. When the behaviour required little effort, however, attitudes had a significant direct effect on behaviour, and the mediating role of intentions was reduced. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
ISSN:0046-2772
1099-0992
DOI:10.1002/ejsp.2420200105